A Lesson Learned
by sevenstevearmy
Summary: Lloyd is having some difficulties after his father dies/leaves/ummm? again. Just a quick one shot.


When his father died, his heart was thrown into a black hole- an abyss that nothing ever comes back from. The light didn't seem so bright, and the shadows felt all the more tempting. The others tried to comfort him just as they always had, but they would never understand how he felt. Even those that had lost their parents hadn't gone through what he had. His world had fallen apart, and all that was left standing to build back from was his broken heart and shattered memories. His father had always been his role model. While both of his parents had been absent for his childhood, his mother had chosen to leave while his father had been forced. His father came back to him in his time of need while his mother had felt like researching was too dangerous to take him with her. His father continually made sacrifices, and since the last one, his mother decided she wanted to be with his uncle, his father's brother. He knew deep down that his mother would never do anything to hurt him and wanted what was best for him, but he was hurting. He became distant and irritable. Often times the littlest things would set him off, and when he was set off, he exploded. The lights would burst creating darkness and shattered glass. He never showed this side to the others, but he frequently had to sneak out to get lightbulbs. When the others would get too suspicious, he would put on a good face and go out of his way to spend time with them, but only in places he could easily get away, like the park or a hike through the woods. One day, it all just became too much. He wasn't sure whether it was his mother being so happy with Wu or seeing Jay with his parents or even Cole calling his Dad to talk about the quartet's latest performance. He was angry, jealous, and hurt. His father had told him to never give into the anger like he did. "Sorry Dad," he whispered to himself as he let it all go. He let it consume him. He did everything a Green Ninja should not do. All the lights in Ninjago City burst, showering all citizens young, old, men, and women with shattered glass and turning a once bright city over to the night. Even though Kai, Cole, and Jay were not in the city, they could tell something was wrong as soon as their elemental powers started going haywire, resulting in an overcharged junk yard, a new mountainous stage for the Royal Blacksmiths to perform on, and a forest fire. Zane who was closest experienced even more difficulty and was worried Lloyd had gotten possessed again, or worse. He accidentally froze over the cafe he was at and the surrounding buildings and street. He went to find Lloyd, but nearly froze the whole city over.

"It will only get worse as you get closer to Lloyd. Turn around now," PIXAL advised him.

"A ninja never quits and I will never leave a brother behind," he replied promptly and finally. She was right though, it only got worse.

Lloyd could feel him coming a mile away. As the temperature kept dropping, he knew it was only a matter of time before Zane found him. He tried to summon his elemental dragon, but it wouldn't come. This only frustrated him further as he started to run. He might destroy everything around him just because it felt good to let it out, but he could never hurt his family, which Zane was most certainly part of. He could only imagine the others' difficulty and he realized his father was right. He couldn't let into his anger, not as long as he still had people left he cared about. He calmed his powers but kept running. He couldn't face them now. He knew the damage he had done, even though he hadn't seen the full extent. As he ran, tears began to stain his face. What if one day there was no one left? What if one day this side of him came out again? Little did he know, his four protectors had felt his intense anger, and now his intense sorrow and regret. This didn't happen often, only when he felt something so strongly. He still couldn't summon his dragon and realized this meant the other's couldn't either. His lack of control would affect them. He sat down in the middle of the rooftop he had been running across and meditated. The world slowed down. He remembered all of the lessons he had been taught, by Wu, his father, and the others. He let his anger seep away and focused on where it was coming from. He was angry because it was unfair for his father to be taken from him. He'd barely been able to be with him, and even when he had, a lot of the time it was under strained circumstances. He let himself finally continue in the greiving process. He wouldn't let this happen again. He heard footsteps on a distant roof top and knew Zane had finally caught up. When he was close enough to hear, Lloyd asked, "What's the damage?"

"Nothing that can't be fixed. There have been reports of a few minor injuries, but for he most part, everyone is unharmed. What happened?"

Lloyd opened his eyes and looked to the sky. He saw four elemental dragons from various directions and at various differences. Nya's was the closest, no doubt she had come to see about what was going on with her brother immediately after the incident started. He wanted to tell Zane before the others got there. He just couldn't face them all at once. He told Zane everything, how he had felt for the last couple of months, what he was going through. He finally got to what had just happened and apologized with tears in his eyes.

"My father always told me to never give into my anger, but I didn't listen. I didn't think I could hold it in. But now I've done this… I'm so sorry. I don't know how to apologize and make it up to you, the others, the city…"

"Sensei once said, 'Even a lesson learned the hard way, is a lesson learned'. I may not completely understand what you are going through, but I too felt pain and anger when my father passed. We'll help you clean up the city and we'll face this together, as a team and as a family."

At this point, Nya found them on the roof top and landed. "Are you guys alright? Kai's power all of sudden went all wonky and I didn't know if you were having trouble like that or if you knew what was going on."

"We're fine, physically atleast," Zane replied as Lloyd turned away. "Everything should be ok now."

"But what happened?" she asked, even more confused than before.

"I think we should wait until the others get here."

The next to arrive was Jay, then Kai, then finally Cole. Zane explained to them the best he could about what had happened. He tried to soften out some of the details the best he could, to make it seem like Lloyd wasn't so much at fault. Normally Kai would have been the most upset, being so hot-headed, but he had vowed to protect Lloyd and had always been closest to him. He remained uncharacteristically calm as Jay remained uncharacteristically quiet. Cole would glance around seeing how everyone was taking it. Nya was quite taken aback and didn't know how to react. More or less they all felt the same, on the one hand, the felt awful for him, but on the other, he had caused such tremendous panic that they didn't know what to make of it.

Finally Zane said, "I said we would all help him clean this up and face this together."

Kai was the first to speak, "You're right Zane. Of course, when aren't you. Lloyd, I'm behind you every step if the way. I hope you can forgive me."

"What for?" asked Lloyd, sounding incredibly defeated and more like a statement.

"I said I'd always look out for you, and when you needed me most, I couldn't even tell. We all knew something was wrong, and I should've done something about it. No matter what, you're still one of us." Lloyd turned around. His face was blotchy and tear-stained, his eyes dull and pink around the edges. He had no words. He felt like there was nothing he could say.

"Yeah," Jay joined in nervously. "I mean, we've all messed up. It's always something with us, right? I mean, no one can really blame you for being upset. With the exception of Nya, all of us here felt your anger and pain, though to a lesser degree of course."

"And we all know what it's like to lose someone," Cole continued. "You had trouble with your emotions, but you fought to get them under control because you didn't want others to suffer. We're family, and we'll accept you always."

"I couldn't agree more with what the boys are saying. Next time though, maybe try talking it out?" Nya finished. Lloyd couldn't help but give a smile.

"I think I'll try that," he replied. They all went in for a group hug with Lloyd in the center. Though it had been a stressful experience, it had brought them closer as a team and a family, but wether or not Lloyd would keep his promise was yet to be seen.


End file.
